Home Of Perfection
by Mariia10
Summary: It was all so natural. Him here with her, on her couch. Finally their future together was clearer than ever before. Pure happy fluff.


Home Of Perfection

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Having a day off on a Wednesday was the best day off Calleigh could ask for. On a Wednesday, normal people were working, and children were in school. On a Wednesday, walking on the beach in an early hour of the day meant no screaming children, no controlling parents, and not too many runners. A quite Wednesday meant a nice comforting run on the beach, and then afterwards silently watch the soothing waves of the ocean hitting against the shore.

It was just something about the whole setting that soothed Calleigh. It made her calm, and it made her think about things she normally didn't really put much thought in to. Before, it had been mostly about work, or her parents, or her old friends. She'd been so busy with life in Miami that her old friends weren't really ever on her list of important things. Of course she'd gotten some friends here in Miami, but that was mostly people from work. Her colleagues. The people she knew she could depend on. Whether it was Valera, or Ryan, Natalia or Horatio; it was people she knew, and it was the people she cared for the most. After a lot of years, she knew just how much.

But these thoughts didn't seem so bother her anymore though. Today when she sat in the sand, legs resting in front of her while her eyes roamed the waves and in to just open sea, it was something so different than that. She didn't see land anywhere close, but she knew so well that Cuba was probably the nearest of all countries. A smile played on her lips as that thought entered her mind. Her boyfriend was from Cuba. Her boyfriend, she thought. It was a title she liked very well. Even though the word boyfriend didn't really say anything at all about how she really felt about him.

Eric was what she'd usually think about on days like these now. Not her old friends, not her family or work, just him. Just him and the way she loved thinking about him. Thinking about what he always did for her, how he always wanted to make she was okay with whatever was going on. Thinking about how in the world she'd managed to get a man like him, it was almost unimaginable. Failed relationships she was known for, she'd been through lots of them, but now, finally, she was sure of it. She was sure she wouldn't ever have a failed relationship. Not with him, not with her Eric.

She wanted to marry Eric, that much was clearer than this day, but it was still way too soon. Dating for five months was really (and as embarrassed she was to admit it) was one of the longest relationships she'd ever been a part of. The _only _relationship she'd been in for so long and yet was still so head over heels in love. And it felt _so _good. Eric always made her feel like the most beautiful woman in the world, and sometimes, just sometimes – she felt she didn't deserve a man quite like him.

The sound of her cellphone broke her thoughts, but when she saw Eric's caller ID, her lips were turning upwards, just like they always did.

"Hey." She said simply. She glanced at her watch. It was ten - thirty she noticed. And just for a moment she couldn't believe she'd been here for so long.

Eric smiled at the sound of her voice. It was calm, and it was his favorite nowadays. Had always been actually. "Hey." He said and he couldn't help but smile. "What are you doing?" He asked sweet and innocently, and quite careful, making sure he was alone where he was.

Calleigh couldn't help but seeing his face, and even now, butterflies was in her stomach, giving her a good, good feeling. "I'm on the beach, actually." Probably giving Eric a little too much information of facts he really didn't want to know.

Eric's thoughts immediately imagined Calleigh on the beach, tanning, in her sexy red, or maybe white bikini. "On the beach, huh?" He grinned. "What are you doing on the beach?"

Rolling her eyes Calleigh giggled, "Well, you know I run on the beach Eric." She said sweetly. "I wouldn't want to go to the beach without your company, it's too lonely."

Eric laughed. "Well, I guess I have to make sure we go together soon then." He replied, and Calleigh smiled widely. "You usually run earlier, you know it's ten-thirty?" He was just making sure she wasn't forgetting about their early lunch plans in an hour or so.

"I know." She said. "I've just been sitting here, thinking a little." She knew he was going to ask what about, and that made her smile. He was always so worried, he always had to know if everything was alright, or if she needed anything. A bit overprotective, maybe, but she liked it every little bit of it.

It was first now he noticed that it was all quiet on the other side. No sounds of anyone talking or screaming or making any kind of noise at all. "It does sound quiet." He said. "You've got anything special on your mind today, beautiful?"

And there it was again. Even when he wasn't there, he could easily manage to make her cheeks heat up to a certain level by using just a simple adjective. "Well, just… just a few things." She smiled and looked down. "You."

Eric couldn't help but smile and it was in these moments he knew he had the most wonderful woman in the whole world. "I've been thinking about you too." He said after a few seconds. "Work's not the same when you're not here."

His voice was oh so sweet, and Calleigh bit down on her lip. She wanted to say that being at home wasn't the same without him, because it wasn't. They'd been together for five months now, sometimes they spent the night at Eric's house, but most of the time was spent in her house. They didn't live together, but lately it was all she could think about. It was all she wanted. Him with her at her house, or his house, or maybe a brand new house, a lot of options she was more than happy to discuss.

"Calleigh?"

His voice and her name brought her back to the realm of reality. She knew she didn't have the courage or guts to ask Eric to move in with her, but she was starting to think that he was waiting for her to take the initiative. "Oh, I'm sorry." She said, her accent drawling out her words. "A lot on my mind today."

Eric nodded and he wished so bad he could reach out to her and give her a comforting hug, maybe a kiss or two. Ryan calling his name caught his attention next, and he knew he had to be somewhere. "Look Calleigh, I have to go."

"Okay." Calleigh said smiling when he heard the voice he used when he had to do something he didn't want to. "I'll see you at lunch?"

"Of course." He said and Calleigh knew he was in a rush. "I love you." He told her, and warmth spread through her body as she heard those three words that meant everything and more to her.

"I love you too."

They'd had lunch together. In a small diner, sitting in the corner, both lost in just them. Even when they were in public, they almost only had eyes for each other. It was just how it got, somehow, but Calleigh knew she really wouldn't have it any other way even if she could.

She was going to ask him. But as always, she'd chicken out, and postponed it. She knew she had to ask him someday, because _not_ sharing everything with him wasn't something she could do much longer. She wanted to make room for all his stuff, wanted to ask him to pick up his socks, she really _wanted_ to wake up to him every single morning for the rest of her life. Anything else just wouldn't go. It would just simply be wrong. Having him there, his scent, his natural manly cologne that smelled so wonderful she'd remember it forever. But maybe even more than anything else that went beyond everything else – his words. The way he spoke, and the way he always seemed to say just the right things. And she wanted it all.

"What smells so good?" He asked when he entered her kitchen later that night. He'd slipped off his shoes, and he'd immediately smelled that wonderful smell that only Calleigh could be in charge off. She was an excellent cook, whatever she made tasted good, and he could really learn to appreciate and live with that.

His arms sneaked around her waist and his lips touched her cheek only after mere seconds. It was like he'd run, just to hold her and kiss her like he did right now. And Calleigh, loving every second of it, tilted her head upwards and just like that, simple and innocent, their lips met in a slow, lazy yet so meaningful kiss. Calleigh whimpered when his lips left hers, and the pout she gave him made Eric do nothing else but lean in again, taking her beautiful lips, with his own.

"Dinner's ready." She told him, a while later. So together they ate, talked about the case, talked about what Calleigh had made of her day off, and before they knew it, they were both finished.

It was all so natural.

They watched the news together that night too. Eric behind Calleigh on the couch, his arms around her waist and Calleigh's head resting on his shoulder. "Hey Eric?" She asked when the news was over, and commercial took over the TV-screen.

"Hmm?" He murmured in to her hair, running his fingers through it.

"Can I ask you something?"

He heard the hesitation in her voice, and just seconds later she was sitting, leaning against the side of the couch, facing Eric. Her legs resting on his lap, while her hands rested in her own lap. "You can ask me whatever you want, baby."

She bit her lip; he was only making this harder for her, so she took a deep breath and focused. She couldn't chicken out this time, she just couldn't. "It's just that…" She looked down on her hands, fiddling slightly. "I…I don't really know how to ask you this." Her voice was small and low and Eric just smiled, letting her take all the time she needed for whatever question she was going to ask. Feeling how tense she was, he grabbed her fiddling hands, linking his fingers through hers, and smiled by the fit of it. Her hands were somehow clammy, and he now understood that this was something a little more serious than he'd thought, so he just squeezed her hands reassuringly.

"Then just ask, Cal." He smiled, pressing his lips to her forehead.

"You know I love you right?" She told him slowly, needing him to just be patient. She'd get there.

Eric smiled. "I know." He told her. "And I love you too."

Calleigh smiled and she was a little easier at bay now. Just needed to work her confident up little by little; she was so nervous.

He couldn't help but smile. He really wondered where this was going. "You can tell me everything." He whispered, lifting all four hands up in the air, kissing Calleigh's hands slowly, before letting them down on his lap again. "Everything you want."

She took a deep, deep breath. "Truth is Eric.." Another breath. And another. "When you're not here, I go crazy." She whispered with meaning that sent Eric over the moon.

"When you're not here all I do is think about you, and I miss you." She admitted fast. "I use your pillow when I sleep, and I use your t-shirts." Her cheeks were red, but she wasn't finished. "When I'm lying in bed all I can think of is your arms and your fingers and how amazing I feel when your arms are around me." Her voice still calm, and low with full of meaning.

"You're always on my mind whenever you're not here," She said. "When you're not here, it's like a part of me that's missing. And I know I sound crazy when I say all this, but it's the truth, and I just want you to know that."

Eric was in a state he'd never been in before. It was a mix of shock and happiness all at once, and he just couldn't believe that she was saying all this. All the things that she felt, that he too felt. That his arms around her at night meant everything to _them. _

"You mean everything to me, Eric." Her voice so low Eric almost didn't hear her. She was looking shyly up at him. Meeting those beautiful brown chocolate eyes that made everything inside her bubble, and just so so happy. "And all I've been doing lately is thinking about how I want more than anything wake up with you every morning for the rest of my life." She said. "How many children we'll have, and what they will look like and…" She was rambling, but Eric had never been happier. "And I know I must sound crazy and forward here…but I've never felt like this, and it just… it just feels _so_ right." She stopped, her eyes met his. She squeezed their linked hands. "Don't you think?" She whispered, and he wasn't sure he'd heard her just right.

All of this, coming from the one and only woman he'd ever loved more than anything in this world, was a bit overwhelming. He released her hands, cupped her cheeks with his strong, big hands, and his lips crashed on hers. The kiss wasn't urgent, it was simply just so, _so _meaningful.

"Calleigh." He breathed. He was so touched by this woman. Hearing all of those words made him realize that all he wanted was her. "Nothing's ever more right for me either." He said, his voice returning her low one. "I want you, Calleigh." He continued. "You and everything else, that comes along the way." He saw the way her eyes moisten and she was just so beautiful. "You're my everything."

A tear landed on the back of his hand as Calleigh shed a tear silently. It was just one, but he used his thumbs to remove it, kissing the spot on her cheek where it landed. And then, the words that fell from her lips next were most amazing he'd ever heard in his entire life. So far that was.

"Will you move in with me, Eric?"

He did not hesitate a second. A rush of happiness and pictures of what it would be like to come home to Calleigh everyday entered his mind. How she would always be there when he needed her, and how she always managed to make him the happiest man on earth. "I thought you'd never ask, baby." His arms went around Calleigh's body, and very easily she slid in to his perfect arms that she thought was made for her and her only. Her face was resting in the very crook of his neck, smelling the perfection of his cologne. It was soothing to her. "Of course I'll move in with you, Calleigh" His lips were on her temple as he spoke, louder this time. And Calleigh just had to smile. She could hear the excitement in his voice, and she _knew_ that he wanted it too. She lifted her head from his neck, and returned the everlasting smile he was giving her. She leaned to capture his lips with hers. It was a small kiss yes, but big to both of theirs overwhelming hearts.

"Are you completely, a hundred percent sure?"

Eric smiled widely, adoring the sudden serious look on Calleigh's face. "Let me think…do I _really_ want to move in with you?" He asked, his voice testing the words, feeling them as they dawned on to him. "I want _nothing _more than move in with you, baby."

Calleigh smiled widely. So, so happy. It was weird how this wonderful man managed to make her this way. She wanted to share everything with him, and it was such a good feeling. Something she was sure her body would never let go of.

She looked down a moment and spoke again "We can stay at your place, or buy our own; we don't have to live here." But living here was exactly what Eric wanted to. At least for now that's what he more than

"You do have the safest house in Miami." He mentioned with a smug smile. "What if I want to stay here?"

Calleigh looked up at him, returning the melting smile he was giving her. "You would really sell your place, for me?"

"I'd do anything for you, Calleigh."

The intensity and honesty in his eyes struck to Calleigh. He was honest with all of his heart and she could see it oh so clearly. "I love you, so much." She told him as she put her arms around him, his body fitting in to hers like nothing else could compare. Not even the finest, most expensive clothing she could get. She just preferred Eric.

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_I'd love to hear what you think :) _


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